Friday, March 17, 2006

If 'many' means 'all' [Catholic Answers]

Here's more to ponder:The words in the way they are used by Paul are interchangeable. As Kenneth Whithead and James Likoudis relate:

St. Paul does use the phrase "the many" to speak about people in general, in Romans, chapter 5, and possibly elsewhere, but that does not make "all" and "many" interchangeable. "All" people would be many, very many, but "many" people does not necessarily mean everyone.

We are not talking about the letters of St. Paul, anyway, we are talking about the Gospel of St. Matthew. Consider what the following verses mean, if we are free to substitute "all" for "many":

Matthew 9:10:And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples.

It must have been a really big table, if all tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus.

Matthew 7:13:Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.